Giant(s) underdogs to take on high-flying Winterhawks

Vancouver lost all four regular season meetings against U.S. foes, who lost once in last 29 games

Vancouver Giants winger Travis McEvoy (left) tangles with with Portland Winterhawk Dominic Turgeon during a Feb. 15, 2015 Western Hockey League game at the Pacific Coliseum.

Photograph by: Steve Bosch
, PNG files

METRO VANCOUVER — It’s been two years but, for Vancouver Giants head coach Don Hay, it seems like an eternity since his team last participated in the Western Hockey League playoffs.

The Giants were WHL doormats in 2012-13, finishing dead last with 44 points. Dead last, of course, meant no playoffs for them. They rebounded nicely this season and moved up to seventh in the Western Conference with 75 points. But seventh also means an opening-round playoff date with the defending champion Portland Winterhawks, who scored a whopping 338 goals during the regular season, 104 more than the Giants.

The best-of-seven first-round series goes Friday-Saturday in Portland before switching to the Pacific Coliseum for Games 3 and 4 next Tuesday and Wednesday (March 25-26).

“It feels like we've been out of the playoffs for a long time, it seems like more than a year,” Hay said Tuesday following practice in Tsawwassen. “It's fun to get back to the competitive juices of the playoffs and trying to break down a team and their players' tendencies and then pass those on to our players. I think the preparation for a playoff series really helps a player's development and we missed that last year.”

The Giants will be massive underdogs against coach Mike Johnston's Winterhawks. They lost all four regular-season meetings to Portland, although one was via shootout. They were outscored 20-11.

They will play the series without their captain and best defenceman, 20-year-old Dalton Thrower, who has a bum ankle. Tyler Benson, their first-round pick in the 2013 bantam draft, is out as well with a sprained knee. He just joined the Giants full-time in early March after finishing his midget season in Kelowna.

“It would be great if everyone was healthy, but we just have to move on,” Hay said with a shrug. “Dalton Thrower won't be available, he's not here, we can't use him and we're trying not to talk about him.”

In Thrower's absence, Brett Kulak has become the Giants' blue-line kingpin. A Calgary Flames' fourth-round pick in 2012, Kulak signed Tuesday with the Flames. It's a three-year deal worth $2.45 million. Both the contract and the WHL playoffs were on his mind following practice.

“Signing feels really good for me and it's a pretty exciting time obviously,” said Kulak, who collected 60 points during the regular season. “It's a big step. I think now it's just the beginning of the work I need to put in. It's motivating. I knew the Flames were happy with me and I was confident with how I was playing that the contract would eventually happen.”

As for the playoffs, he can't wait for a crack at the Winterhawks after last season's miss.

“Everyone is hungry,” said Kulak, 20. “I remember last year when there were a few games left and guys on other teams who were in the playoffs were chirping, like: 'Get your golf clubs ready’ and all that. Obviously we're really happy to be where we're at. We've turned things around this season and worked really hard to get ourselves in a playoff spot.”

Nobody is giving them much hope against Portland, which has four Canadian world juniors on its roster in Matt Dumba, Derrick Pouliot, Taylor Leier and North Delta native Nic Petan. The Winterhawks had six players with 70 or more points, led by Petan's 113. The Giants' leading scorer, Carter Popoff, finished with 64.

The Giants are hanging their hats on the fact they've been able to beat elite teams like the Kelowna Rockets, Victoria Royals, Edmonton Oil Kings and Calgary Hitmen this season. So why not Portland, too?

“We've shown we can beat top teams and we're going to have to do that again if we want to move on,” said fourth-year right winger Dalton Sward, who is wearing the 'C' in Thrower's absence. “You've heard of so many underdog stories and this could be another one. The pressure is on them. If they lose the series, they will be the ones who look bad.”

Portland enters the playoffs on a seven-game win streak. The Winterhawks also won 21 straight from Jan. 12 to Feb. 28. They only lost once between streaks, a 4-1 decision to Seattle. Add 'em up and the Winterhawks are 28-1-0-0 in their last 29. They are a load.

“I think everyone in our locker room really thrives on the underdog label,” Kulak noted. “You never know what can happen in the playoffs.”

G-NOTES: The Winterhawks have a Vancouver Canucks prospect on their roster, stay-at-home defenceman Anton Cederholm. The 19-year-old Swede appeared in 71 regular-season games and collected 16 points (four goals, 12 assists) while posting a plus-42 rating. It was his first season in the Dub after signing as a free agent last July 2.

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